The Case for Penn State Football Replacing James Franklin with Urban Meyer
The Penn State football program isn’t stuck in neutral right now, It’s stuck in reverse and it keeps running over things it can’t see as it heads towards a cliff with a drop as ominous as the one in the HR Pufnstuf hat.
Sunday, James Franklin was fired after nearly 12 seasons in Happy Valley, opening up what promises to be one of the most sought-after vacancies this hiring cycle.
I’m sure there’s another Dan Lanning out there coordinating football things for some up-and-coming program just waiting to be recognized for his brilliance, but what a crap shoot that would be at this point for a program that’s already in flux.
Sometimes you don’t need another up-and-coming coordinator. You need a closer.
Sometimes, a program such as Penn State desperately needs a program-changer. It needs a man who’s proven he can walk into chaos, grab the wheel, and drive straight out of the fiery carnage and into the winner’s circle.
That’s Urban Meyer, and after another collapse in Happy Valley, Penn State needs exactly that kind of leader.
Between 10-win seasons and the kind of championship runs fans still dream about from the Paterno years (the last one coming in 1986), Franklin restored stability, yes, but not glory, and now, with three straight losses, two to three touchdown plus underdogs, a PSU locker room that looks more frustrated and flummoxed than fierce, the Nittany Lions are out of excuses.
A new voice is needed in Happy Valley. A proven one. And there’s no name in college football more proven than Urban Meyer, save Nick Saban.
The Ultimate Winner
Meyer’s résumé isn’t just impressive, it’s legendary.
Three national championships at two different programs, two at Florida and one at Ohio State. He also compiled a record of 22-2 during his two seasons as head coach at the University of Utah (2003-2004) where his tenure included an undefeated 12-0 season and a BCS-busting Fiesta Bowl victory in 2004, making him the first coach to lead a non-automatically qualifying conference team to a BCS bowl game.
His career record of 187–32, a .854 winning percentage but no run defines his genius better than 2014, when Ohio State lost not one, but two starting quarterbacks, Braxton Miller and J.T. Barrett, before the biggest games of the season.
Enter Cardale Jones, the team’s third-string quarterback who’d barely thrown a meaningful pass all year. Meyer didn’t blink. He adjusted, adapted, and unleashed a game plan that shredded Wisconsin 59–0 in the Big Ten Championship game, stunned Alabama 42–35 in the Sugar Bowl, and bullied Oregon 42–20 in the inaugural College Football Playoff National Championship with Jones slinging it for the first time all season.
A national title with a third-string quarterback. That’s not luck. That’s leadership. That’s legendary.
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Big Games, Bigger Results
At Ohio State, Meyer went 83–9 overall and a jaw-dropping 54–4 in Big Ten play. He never lost to Michigan, nope, not once. His Buckeyes owned the rivalry, owned the spotlight, and owned every big stage they stepped onto.
At Florida, he built a dynasty, producing two national titles (2006, 2008), a Heisman Trophy winner in Tim Tebow, and some of the most dominant defenses in SEC history. His Gators humiliated top-ranked Ohio State 41–14 in the 2007 BCS National Championship and then rolled Oklahoma in 2008 to cement his place among the greats of all-time.
Everywhere he’s gone, Bowling Green, Utah, Florida, Ohio State, Urban Meyer has left a trail of trophies and transformed programs from solid to unstoppable, from contenders to champions.
That’s what Penn State needs. A total transformation.
Why Penn State Is the Perfect Fit
Meyer knows the Big Ten.
He knows its landscapes, its politics, its recruiting wars, and its weather.
He built an empire in Columbus.
He knows how to attract 5-stars recruits from Texas, Florida, and California and convince them to play in the cold. And after years of analyzing games in the FOX studio, his brand hasn’t dimmed; in fact, it may be as big as ever.
If Penn State truly wants to compete with Ohio State and Michigan, it needs someone who’s beaten both, on the field and on the trail. Meyer easily checks both boxes.
More than that, Urban Meyer brings a refined edge. A championship mentality.
Meyer is accompanied by a refusal to accept “good enough.”
Penn State fans are tired of 10-2 seasons of contending. They want rings. They want confetti. They want the kind of hunger that turned Ohio State into a juggernaut.
Meyer can bring that overnight.
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The Risks and Rewards
Yes, Meyer’s name comes with some baggage. The controversies at Florida and his disastrous NFL stint in Jacksonville aren’t secrets. But the NFL isn’t college football and college football is where Meyer thrives.
He’s 60 years old. He appears to be rested and recharged and don’t think for a second he wouldn’t love the opportunity to go out on top and perhaps erase the most recent distasteful episode that he left in his wake with the Jaguars.
And if there’s one thing history shows, it’s that Meyer’s teams are disciplined, conditioned, and ruthless in preparation. At Penn State, a program built on tradition, loyalty, and toughness, those qualities would resonate deeply.
You can’t be risk-averse if you are aiming for greatness.
Penn State has the money, the facilities, and one of the most loyal fan bases in America. What it lacks is a killer instinct. Urban Meyer is a ruthless assassin.
Not a Rebuild
For more than a decade, Penn State Football has flirted with being elite but turned out to be pretenders rather than contenders. They’ve been talented but not talented enough. Respected but not feared.
Urban Meyer changes that equation. Instantly.
He’s not a rebuild either. He wins right away. He led Utah to an undefeated season in his second year there. He won a national championship at Florida in his second year there and won another at Ohio State in just his third year in Columbus.
Hire Meyer, and you’re not hoping to compete with Michigan and Ohio State, soon enough they’ll be hoping to compete with you.
Urban Meyer’s track record speaks louder than any buyout or PR concern. When he walks into a room, winning follows and it echoes long after he leaves.
If Penn State wants to win big again, the question isn’t whether they can afford him, it’s whether the program can afford not to afford him.
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It was at PRISM where Staszak produced live games and began his career as an on-air reporter.
After a couple of brief stints with CBS-3, WB-17 and WGAL-8 in Lancaster, PA, Staszak began a 12 year stretch at FOX 29 where he became the lead sportscaster in 2007. It was there that Staszak found himself in the middle of Philadelphia Phillies World Series Championship coverage that earned him an Emmy nomination for best sports reporter in 2008.It was one of five Emmy nominations that Staszak earned over the course of his career.
All told Staszak covered three World Series, two Stanley Cup Finals, an NBA Finals and one Super Bowl during his television run.
Staszak left the TV business for 97.5 The Fanatic in 2013, where he enjoyed eight years bloviating his beliefs on how a professional football team should be run.In 2018 when he fortunate enough to be the first sports talk host in the city, along with cohort Zach Gelb, to provide post-game coverage of the first Super Bowl Championship for the city’s beloved Philadelphia Eagles.
Staszak was also a writer for 97.5 The Fanatic along with 4 Philly Sports and now covers Penn State athletics for NittanyCentral.com.
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